


Friday the 13th

by iknow_write



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Workplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-04-01 00:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3999040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iknow_write/pseuds/iknow_write
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An Everlark drabble inspired by a scene caused by a fellow commuter on my way home one day.</p><p>Peeta Mellark believes Friday the 13th brings him bad luck -- and what worse could it get when he gets accused of harassing a fellow commuter on the train? Having the girl he likes come and rescue him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friday the 13th

 

 

Friday the 13th

 

“I swear I didn’t do it.”

 

Peeta keeps his head down. He didn’t want to risk meeting any accusatory glances, but more importantly, he didn’t want anyone to recognize him. He thinks that he sees some people take his photo from his periphery. He’s not entirely sure. His head still feels light and dizzy after getting punched on the nose by some guys on the train.

The police officer recites his Miranda rights as he grabs his wrists to put on handcuffs. He rubs his wrists against the cold metal. He wants to reach his left cheek that still feels numb after getting slapped by the woman who claimed to have been harassed by him.

 _“Just my luck,”_ he mutters to himself. He would not have been put in such situation had he gotten into the 5:15 train. He would not have been late for his usual ride had he not spent 20 minutes in their office deciding whether he’d go to District 12 with his officemates for a payday night out. He would not have been on the 5:30 train had he decided to come. But he could not risk being around his officemates, more so around _her_ , on a day he most believes is only set to bring him bad luck.

 _“No, no, not either_ ,” he shakes his head and chuckles. The police officer shoots an eyebrow up at him and shakes his head, too. He ushers Peeta into the police car and sits next to him. Peeta looks out the window and sees the blonde woman get into the next police car.

Peeta feels lightheaded when the car moves and he closes his eyes to catch on the sleep he was disturbed from by the angry slap he got on the face.

***

“I swear they look more and more inconspicuous these days.”

 

“Right. This one looks pretty decent enough. You’d think he won’t do it.”

 

Peeta is awakened by the voices talking around him. He realizes he’s behind bars when he comes to.

 

“I really didn’t.” Peeta says as he scrabbles to stand up.

 

“Of course you didn’t,” The copper-haired police officer said. “Whoever says they did?” he chuckles as he and the Chief walks to an office.

 

Peeta struggles to keep his eyes open. He wants to defend himself further, but his head is betraying his thoughts. Of course he didn’t do it. How could he, when he doesn’t even make the first move with any girl he dates. It’s not like he’s dated a lot either. And it’s most definitely not like he’s the type to try and cop a feel with any girl who’s practically a stranger when he has his eyes on –

 

“Peeta!”

 

He breaks away from his thoughts when he hears her voice. He felt like she just materialized from thin air. Katniss Everdeen – the girl he’s been pining for for almost half a year now, is here for him. If she hadn’t been walking towards him in a few seconds after talking, he would’ve thought he’d completely lost it.

 

“Hey. What—what brings you here?” he stutters. Her hand slips through the gap to caress his cheek – a bit too lovingly, he thinks. He can fall into pieces at her touch, but at present, he wants to crumble out of shame. This was why he decided not to come. He never wanted her to see him this way.

 

“You called me, silly.” Peeta’s eyes widen at this. He doesn’t remember dialing her number and calling her. But she’s here, so he must’ve done it while half-asleep.

 

“Peeta? Are you with me? Did—who hurt you?” she asks, her storm gray eyes boring into his.

 

“No, they didn’t touch me.” He replied, “But I got…bitch-slapped and I might need a nose job.” He chuckles at his own choice of words. He was caught offguard when she leans in to kiss his cheek.

 

“How does it feel, now?” she asks as she runs her thumb over the bruise on his cheek.

 

“Better.” He replies, the corner of his lips turning up in his feeble attempt to give her a reassuring smile.

 

“Good.” she tells him, “Where are the officers attending to your case, anyway?”

 

As if on cue, the copper-haired officer stepped out of the office, the blonde girl trailing behind him.

 

“Mr. Mellark, I…” The officer trails off in midsentence as he takes in Katniss’ appearance. Peeta could feel heat rise up his face at this. Because of the night out, Katniss Everdeen was shed of her usual jeans and pullovers and was clad in a form-hugging blue dress with a neckline that dips dangerously low on her ample chest and a hemline that’s riding ridiculously high up her thighs.

 

“Hi, I’m Katniss Everdeen.” She says as she offers her left hand. Peeta makes a mental note to ask her where she got the ring she was proudly showing off right now.

 

“Uh…I…are you…Mr. Mellark’s…?”

 

“I would like to ask why you arrested my fiancée, Officer…Odair,” Katniss says as she steps closer to the officer.

 

 _Fiancee?_ Peeta furrows his brows at this.

 

“But on second thought, I think I want to talk to the lady behind you first, if you’ll permit it. In plain view of everyone, of course.”

 

“K-Katniss, don’t…” Peeta groans with disbelief when he sees Katniss eyeing up the woman as if she was sizing her up. First she told everyone she is his fiancé, and now she wants to pick a fight with his accuser?

 

“What’s your name?” she asks as she crosses her arms across her stomach.

 

“Glimmer.” The woman replies. Katniss snorts and looks at the officer, to Peeta, and back at Glimmer.

 

“Are you sure you weren’t the one harassing my fiancée?”

 

“Excuse me – what? H-harassing? M-m-me?” Glimmer stutters.

 

Katniss scoots closer to Peeta and starts fixing his hair. It was only now that his senses are slowly coming back to full operation that he smelled alcohol from her breath.

 

“I mean, I know he’s handsome and very, very irresistible…and a lot of other things I wouldn’t tell you…” she says as she plays with the hair on his nape.

 

“K-Katnishh…” Peeta shivers at this and shifts his legs. The worst thing to probably ever happen to him tonight is to get a raging boner in front of the very woman he desires. Katniss ignores his pleas and proceeds to run her hand on his bicep.

 

“But my poor baby did not even hold my hand until I initiated on the second date. And he’s still very, very hesitant with physical intimacy even now that we’re getting married. So tell me how he would have the nerve to lay a finger on you?”

 

“I—I was pretty sure he was feeling me out there.”

 

“Well I’m pretty sure you are lying. Who in the hell has a legal name that sounds like a hooker’s, anyway?”

 

“Enough.” A voice called out from the Chief’s office. The Chief steps out and nods to the direction of Peeta. “Get him in here, he’s awake enough for his statement.”

 

Officer Odair fumbles for his keys and leads Peeta into the office.

 

“You two better behave.” The Chief said. He gives the ladies one last look before shutting the door.

 

***

 

The interrogation lasts for about fifteen minutes. Peeta tells them the story of how he missed his usual trip, of how he must’ve fallen fast asleep on the train upon sitting down, and of how he was awakened by a slap to his left cheek and a shrieking blonde lady beside him who he was sure was not sitting beside him two stops earlier.

 

“So, your fiancée, huh?” the chief asks as Peeta was about to step out of the office.

 

“Y-yeah.”

 

“Sure got some fire in her, eh?”

 

“I—yeah.”

 

“She’s a keeper, that one.” The chief tells him with a smirk.

 

“She is, yes.”

 

“You’re a lucky man, you know that?”

 

 _Not really._ He thinks. “I know, Sir. Thank you.”

 

As another officer leads him out of the door, he hears Officer Odair and the Chief talking.

 

“What do you think, Odair?”

 

“Well, if I’d been tapping that ass for quite sometime now, there’s no way I’d cop a feel on another woman’s body.”

 

Peeta heaved a sigh at this. If they only knew…

 

“Peeta…” she called out to him as she stands up to meet him halfway.

 

“Are we going home now?” she asks the officer.

 

“I have to put him back in, Ma’am, and wait for the Chief’s decision.”

 

Katniss nods in understanding. “Okay,” she says. “You’ll be fine, Peeta. We’ll go home.”

 

As he enters the prison cell, Peeta can’t help but notice how Katniss’ eyes are trained on the floor this time. The Katniss that was on fire earlier had suddenly mellowed down. The effect of alcohol must have worn out, and she must only be realizing how stupid it was of her to come to his rescue.

 

“It’s okay, Kat. Sit down first.” He says as he holds on to a bar.

 

A few more minutes pass before the Chief and Officer Odair step out of the office. Katniss stands up as he sees them.

 

“Tell me he’s allowed to go home now.”

 

“Well, if it ain’t for this lovely lady here -- ” the Chief starts.

 

“Just tell me! Please…” Katniss cuts him off and furrows her brows as she faces him.

 

The Chief says nothing as he passes her and opens the cell gate himself.

 

“You’re good to go, Mellark. We haven’t seen any concrete evidence to verify Ms. Roberts’ claim.” He says as he unlocks his cuffs.

 

Peeta lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding all along. Katniss’ lips break out into a wide smile before she prances to him and envelopes him into a hug.

 

“We’re going home.” She mumbles onto his shoulder.

 

“Sign here. Your things are with Odair.” The Chief says.

 

“Thank you, Sir.” Peeta mutteres. “But how about Ms… Glimmer?”

 

“Oh, we have to discuss some stuff with her before she leaves. Don’t worry, kid.”

 

Peeta nods as he grabs his bag from Officer Odair. Katniss walks beside him as he makes his way outside. The two of them remain quiet a few blocks from the station, before they both decide to break the silence.

 

“Katniss—“

 

“Peeta—“

 

“You, first.” He tells her.

 

“I…I’m glad you’re okay.” She says while picking at the sleeve of her dress.

 

“Yeah. But really, thank _you_. I—I’m glad you came.”

 

“Don’t mention it.” She replied. It was back to a few seconds of silence, when Peeta decides to finally take his chance.

 

“So… _very, very irresistible_ , huh?”

 

Katniss takes a deep breath at this. He took it as a signal to continue.

 

“And _other things you wouldn’t tell_ , huh?”

 

Katniss stopped on her tracks. She seemed to be weighing something in her head as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

 

“Wouldn’t you…want to know?”

 

Peeta shoots up an eyebrow at this.

 

“Let’s go home, then. If…if you…wanted to. God, this is embarrassing.” She says as she rubs her arms looking elsewhere but to him. Peeta steps towards her and takes her hands in his.

 

“You know, I can hold a girl’s hand on the first date.”

 

Katniss bites her lower lip before looking him in the eye.

 

“I think I’d allow that. And other things, too.”

 

Peeta smiles and pulls her closely beside him, lacing the fingers of his right hand with her left.

 

“So…where do you want to go, fiancée?”

 

“We said we were going _home_ , Peeta.” She told him with a shy smile and a twinkle in her eyes. He thinks about what Officer Odair and the chief said earlier.

 

 _Just my luck._ Peeta thinks to himself.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone!
> 
> So I said I was going to update I'll Never Say Goodbye in around two weeks, but today marks the second week and I haven't posted anything yet! I actually felt pressured by the amount of hits and kudos that I got that I'm kind of writing and re-writing parts 2 and 3 in my head for the past days -- until this drabble came into mind. So I decided to get this off the road first and then proceed with my WIP. This isn't as good as I wanted it to be, but I hope some of you enjoy this anyway!


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